AHL: Blues’ Name Steve Ott Springfield’s Head Coach

Originally posted on Inside The Rink | By Chris Lavallee | Last updated Jan 19, 2026 1:15 PM ET

The St. Louis Blues this morning announced that Steve Ott will take over as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, for the rest of the season. The Blues relieved Steve Konowalchuk of his duties. Konowalchuk was in his second season as the head coach of Springfield, finishing with a 47-50-12 record. They went to the playoffs last season but lost in the first round to the Providence Bruins. The Thunderbirds will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this afternoon, and they’ll be led by assistant coach Chad Wiseman, who will be the interim coach until Ott joins the team later this week. Ott’s first game behind the bench will likely be Friday when the Toronto Marlies come to town. The Thunderbirds are 13-18-4-2 with 32 points, sitting in last place of the Atlantic Division, and are on a four-game losing streak. They entered last week in the final playoff spot in the Division, but after back-to-back 8-2 losses to the Charlotte Checkers and a 4-1 loss to the Bridgeport Islanders, they’ve fallen to eighth.

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Steve Ott

The 42-year-old has nine seasons behind the Blues bench as an assistant coach. He joined them in 2017 after retiring from his 15-year playing career. He was a part of the team when they won the 2019 Stanley Cup and has been a part of four postseason appearances. The Blues are 350-244-74 since Ott joined the staff. In his 15 seasons, he played for the Dallas Stars, Buffalo Sabres, Blues, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens. In 848 career games, he recorded 288 points on 109 goals and 179 assists. He was a -66 with 28 power-play goals, four shorthanded goals, 16 game-winning goals, and 1,555 penalty minutes.

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